Life After HIVE
by Kukipye
Summary: Well, as the title says, it IS about the fab four's life after HIVE. I know there's a couple of stories floating around with the same topic, but I just wanted to try it out myself. Rating varies from maybe K and a little above, but not quite T yet. Does that make sense? Eh. Um, let's see - included are Ottra, Wingelby and Otto's wondering about that mysterious wall indeed...
1. Plain Shelby Excitement

**A/N: ****This story is mainly around Laura, so…**

**Franz and Nigel might be getting some dates too… *wink* (And all the fluff may seem useless and horribly written)**

**Also, on another note: I completely forgot about Tom and Penny, if any of you are wondering. And I was already so much into the story when I remembered about them, so just pretend they never came to HIVE. **

**Happy reading! **

**~Kukipye~ # . #**

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Otto slowly walked down the halls of HIVE with his eyes closed, his hands in his pockets. He was sure of where he was going – he already memorized the correct layout of HIVE. But his eyes weren't closed because he was testing himself, it was because he was busy chatting to HIVEmind. The albino (but with no red eyes!) was currently engaged in a conversation with HIVEmind about how much longer the volcano would stay 'dormant'. HIVEmind was trying to assure Otto, but he was still sceptical.

You may be wondering why Otto is allowed to be wandering around HIVE when technically; it should be lesson time for a student. But you see; Otto isn't a student anymore. He's already graduated from HIVE. Ah… he can still remember to that exciting day.

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"We're graduating! Us!" Shelby squealed excitedly for like, the seventeenth time.

"We get it Shel. You don't have to remind me every five minutes." Laura nudged her roommate.

"It is nice to be finally getting out of here, though." Wing announced calmly, walking up behind them.

Normally, Shelby would have been startled, but hey, after having a ninja as your boyfriend, you get used to it. "Hey!"

Laura jumped slightly. "Oh, hey Wing." The red-head peered around him. "Is Otto with you?"

Shelby tutted playfully at her. "Oh Laura, you and Otto really just can't get enough of each other, can you?"

Laura flushed red enough to match her hair. "I could say the same about you and Wing!" She shot back. "But really, has anyone seen Otto? I haven't seen him all day."

"That's true." Wing confirmed. "I think we'll probably see him at the dining hall… for the graduation ceremony."

Shelby's broad grin took on a certain manic quality to it, and Laura wondered whether it was due to the excitement of finally being free from their volcano school.

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Laura peered anxiously through the crowd of excited graduating Alphas. "He's not here," she muttered dejectedly, her shoulders slumping. Otto would definitely be coming, but she had been hoping to be able to wait next to him until it was her turn to go on stage.

"Who's not here?" a familiar voice behind her asked. Laura spun around, her red ponytails flying.

"Otto!" she squealed, hugging the white-haired teen.

"Hey," Otto whispered into her hair. He pushed a sleek, silver and small device that was smaller and thinner than her blackbox into her hands. It had a rectangular button on the back with a power symbol engraved on the button. "Turn it on after," were his instructions.

Laura nodded curiously but didn't say anything and slid the device into the pocket of her black jumpsuit. They both turned to watch the graduation ceremony.

One by one, each Alpha was called to join Nero on the stage. (refer to book 1 page 7!) Each time, the Alpha was given a folder of his or her achievements and downfalls in HIVE and inside another folder would be a 'prize' based on the other folder. Basically, if you'd done well, you get a better prize. Needless to say, most of the Alphas not on stage were chatting amongst themselves instead of watching the boring procedure.

Shelby walked up next to the couple. "What do you think Malpense will get, Brand? I bet he's done more bad than good for HIVE."

Laura grinned. "Maybe. I'm more interested in _yours,_ Shel. Haven't you been sneaking things from HIVE recently?"

Otto nudged Laura. "Weren't the things for you? Besides, I _did_ help Professor Pike improve some of the weapons yesterday."

Wing appeared next to Otto. "We've all done our share of good and bad things for the school, I believe."

"I'm guessing you think you've done more good things than bad, compared to the rest of us, right?" Shelby joked.

Wing kept a straight face but if you were accustomed to his emotions, like his three friends, you could detect the faintest hint of a smile.

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**A/N: So… Did'ya like it? Tell me if you think the chapter is too short. I usually like to keep my chapters from 700-1100 words, but sometimes it's less or more than that. This chapter is only 663 words! (Not including the authors notes and the little 0 0 0.)**

**~Kukipye~ # . #**


	2. And Off They Go

"Wing Fanchu."

Wing's name was called out and he disappeared into the crowd, appearing seconds later on the stage. He went through the same procedure as every Alpha before him and came down soon with two folders.

"Well? What d'you get?" Shelby pressed him. Wing opened his mouth to answer but Shelby was called and she dashed off. Wing kept quiet and the three turned from their little huddle to watch Shelby. She was obviously one of the more excited students, barely pausing to shake Nero's hand before running back off stage and re-joining the group, as excited as a child on Christmas morning. She squealed.

Laura and Otto were called later on, but none of the four had opened their folders. Shelby's was creased in her excited hands, Wing's was held calmly, Laura's was gripped in one hand by her side, and Otto's was stuffed unceremoniously in his jumpsuit's pocket.

"Well," Nero announced after all folders had been given out to the Alpha stream that consisted of 42 students, "you're all going to be released into the world soon." Excited murmuring erupted at this, and Nero waited for them to quiet down.

"I hope you've all learnt how to be a successful villain in your six years here, or at least how to go about doing your criminal things without getting caught at most.

"I don't expect you to immediately have a place to stay, so like every year for each graduating stream, we will be sending you to a place where you have access to networks and things like that for six months.

"Within those six months, you will find your own place to stay, commit a few uncommon crimes here and there, earn enough money and move out. You don't have to stay there for the whole six months, of course, you can move out of there so long as you have proper place to stay. Those who don't find a place in that half of a year will be kicked out.

"Only the Alpha stream will be there - the other streams will be sent to other spots. Now, I believe the Shrouds are at the hanger bay waiting for you."

Thus, excited chattering erupted into the air as the Alphas headed towards the hanger bay. Shelby, Wing, Laura and Otto were joined by two other familiar figures, Nigel and Franz.

"Hello! I am being the excited to be getting out of here, aren't you?" Franz asked jovially. Even after his six years at HIVE, his English was still not perfect.

"I wonder what the place will look like…" Nigel said, and the others murmured quietly in agreement.

Laura fingered the outline of the device Otto had passed to her and wondered when she should take a look at it. _When we get there, _she decided.

They reached the hanger bay and lined up like the students in front of them. Otto noticed that the other graduating streams were not there and concluded that they would leave the school after them, as the Alpha stream seemed to be the first one to leave.

Shelby was the first of the six to reach the front of the queue where a bored looking guard stood by a metal crate.

"Remove all items from your pockets and drop them in, pull out your pockets so I can see there's nothing in 'em." he said in a monotone.

Laura bit her lip. When they left, their blackbox would be the only thing that connected her to HIVEmind. Well, she should have expected it. HIVE wouldn't want anything from the school to be brought outside in case it were found and caused the school to have to change its position again.

Shelby dug in her pockets with her hand that wasn't clutching the folders. Out came her blackbox, some scraps of paper, a compact mirror (don't know where she got that from), and a mini grappling hook (also don't know where that came from and would it hold her up?).

She stepped to the side, pulling out her pockets and Nigel emptied his pockets too. (Seeds, dirt and blackbox.) Wing's pockets only contained his blackbox. Otto pulled out his crumpled folders but kept them and dumped his blackbox along with a broken pencil into the crate.

Meanwhile, Laura hid behind Franz and tried to come up with ways of hiding the device from the guard. She bent down and on the pretence of tying her shoe, slipped it into the compartment that Shelby had helped her make in the sole. The compartment was identical to the one Shelby's lock-picking kit lay in. After moments' thought, she slid in another small box into the compartment. She was willing to bet that the others had kept some personal things too.

When it was her turn to empty her pockets, all that was left was her blackbox and some blueprints.

The six of them were led across the cavern by another guard to a Shroud and boarded in silence. Laura wondered what the rest were thinking about.

_Otto_ was wondering why there wasn't anyone to supervise them. He concluded that it was because since the students were already leaving, there wouldn't be any trouble for the pilot of them trying to escape.

On the flight there, Shelby brought up a question. It was a very Shelby-like question. "Hey! What are we going to wear? These jumpsuits don't really fit in with the crowd," she said, picking at the black fabric.

The rest looked at each other and exchanged 'Oh, Shelby' looks. Shelby fell silent and all of them indulged in their own thoughts. One would have thought that the six would be very chatty, as it was in the other Shrouds, but all they did was speculate on what their future held for them.

Wing sat, hands folded neatly in his lap on top of his folders; Otto, hands tucked in his pocket with his folder on his lap; Nigel, realising there was still some dirt stuck in the corner of his pocket and trying to pick it out inconspicuously; Franz, wondering when the next meal would be and thinking sadly about the packs of food he had emptied into the crate and then there was Laura.

She shuffled her left foot around nervously before thinking that this may hurt the device in some way and then realised that she had put the device in her right foot. She was still curious of what the device had in store for her.

Otto scooted closer to Laura, took her hand and squeezed it. She smiled and rested her head against his shoulder.

* * *

Finally, after a couple of hours that had seemed like days, the Shroud landed. It seemed like someone had thrown a switch that controlled the six Alphas' emotions, because all of them immediately started clamouring for the door.

It hissed open, and the six looked at each other for a split second before stepping out.

Into a new life.

Into an old life.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so to you readers out there? How often would you like me to update this story? I have the next few chapters already typed up anyway... And thanks so much to Chameleons, mosgem and Anouymus for reviewing! (Heh, I changed th to lines instead)**

**~Kukipye~ # . #**


	3. Dilapidated Façade

The place the Alphas stepped out onto was the roof of a dilapidated building. Shelby looked around. "_This_ is the place we're staying?"

Laura sighed. "C'mon, Shel. Just give it a chance."

Nigel, Franz, Laura, Shelby, Wing and Otto made their way across the concrete rooftop to a door. The rest of the Alphas were gathered around it, since their group had been the last to arrive. When the six neared, it was realised that the door was locked. Shelby quickly pushed her way through the Alphas and crouched down at the door, pulling a pin from her hair and not even bothering with the kit in her shoe. The door swung open. In. A. Second. (Woo! Go Shelby!)

The students were facing a kindly looking woman. She was holding up a key - that was obviously meant to be opening the lock - with a surprised look on her face. It disappeared immediately, replaced by a friendly smile.

"Well, you were expected to be coming later, but that all right, isn't it? Besides, with my experience of living with the Alphas, I should have known you wouldn't actually wait for me… I'm Ms Whitbeck. Welcome to your temporary home in New York. Do come in." Ms Whitbeck stepped off to the side, leaving space for the pupils to enter, and enter they did.

Ms Whitbeck slipped the key she had been still holding into her pocket and gestured at them to follow her. They went down a flight of stairs. And then another flight of stairs. There, they ended up in a wide hallway that was surprisingly sleek and modern – very different from the old façade of the building given from the outside. Some potted plants were set here and there to give the place a more 'homey' feel.

Soon, the Alphas spotted doors set into the sides of the corridor. There were 14 doors in total, seven on each side and each facing each other.

"This is just fourteen of the thirty rooms," Ms Whitbeck announced, gesturing at said rooms. "The other sixteen are over there." Ms Whitbeck walked out of the corridor into a large den and pointed at another corridor set into another side of the den.

The den was furnished simply with some cozy couches here and there. In the center of the den was and long white table with 10 laptops secured on it opposite each other. High stools were in placed front of the laptops. Scattered around the room were some round table booths meant for studying or eating or just talking. Along one wall were several bookcases stuffed full of books, at which Otto's eyes lit up at the sight of. On the other wall was a large door, which Ms Whitbeck started towards, the Alphas trailing along behind her.

Ms Whitbeck threw open the door and told them to have a peek inside.

It was the kitchen. With a huge pantry and huge freezer. Franz's eyes practically popped out when he saw this.

"Now. You've seen almost all of what there is in the home. Since you're not exactly kids anymore, HIVE and I decided that you'll have a little freedom.

"You get to choose which rooms you want. You can have your separate rooms, but between every two rooms is a connecting door, so you don't have to step outside to visit your 'roommate'. I would suggest choosing your former roommate to bunk in the next room because you might feel more comfortable that way.

"Ok. Now, anyone can use those laptops and you might have noticed that there are not enough laptops for each one of you to have your own personal file, so please don't clutter up the desktop with useless things.

"Another thing that comes with your freedom is your food. You are free to cook your own foods and bring it out into the den to eat. Any questions?" Ms Whitbeck clasped her hands together and looked at the Alphas expectantly.

One of the more sporty Alphas spoke up. "What about the exercising?"

Ms Whitbeck smiled. "Ah, yes, I almost forgot about that." She pointed at another door. "That leads to the exercise area. A lot like HIVE's own, I should think. Now, I'll just leave you to it. Your rooms have a restroom." Ms Whitbeck turned around and walked towards a seemingly blank wall. Without stopping.

"Ms Whitbeck!" Laura cried out.

Ms Whitbeck turned around to look at the group. She gave them a friendly smirk and _walked right through the wall_.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, you reviewees out there! What should this building be called? Send in your answers! Also, a great big thank you to mosgem, NIghtRunner144, Anouymus Person, Chameleons, and rachel for reviewing!**


	4. PREZZIES!

"Wait, what?" Otto muttered, confused. He ran over to the spot Ms Whitbeck had occupied a few minutes ago and not-very-cautiously tried to walk through the wall too. He ended up staggering back, rubbing his forehead. Otto tapped the wall and found it to be completely solid, with no signs of hollowness. "Well, that's strange," He told himself, making his way back to his three other friends, who had waited for him.

"Seems like you just don't have the awesome power Ms Whitbeck had," Shelby told him, failing to hold back her giggles. The other students had wandered off, claiming their rooms or checking out the kitchen like Franz.

Otto glared at Shelby and Laura wrapped an arm around his waist. "Aww, were you embarrassed?" She teased playfully. "Don't worry; you know we all love you anyway. Especially me," Laura said, whispering the last part into his ear.

Otto grinned down at her. "Well guys, we should probably get our rooms." And so they did. Of course, Shelby and Laura got two adjoining rooms, across the hall from Otto's and Wing's.

The four attempted to settle in which wasn't hard, since they had barely brought anything with them. Or rather - hadn't been allowed to. So all they did was take a look around the rooms. A neatly made bed was tucked in a corner with a desk and spin-chair next to it. On top of the desk was a pencil, a notebook and a glass with a pitcher of water. Next to the desk was a door that led to a bathroom that attached the two rooms and would be shared by the occupants of the adjoining rooms. In this case, Laura would be sharing with Shelby. There was another adjoining door in front of the door that led to the bathroom. In front of the bed along the opposite wall was a wardrobe and next to it, a mirror. Next to the mirror was the main door. A rectangular rug furnished the floor. All in all, it was kinda cozy.

Laura put her folders on her desk and settled down on her bed crossed-legged, leaning against the wall. She pulled the sleek device from her pocket, leaving _that box_ in there, and gazed at it curiously. She sighed. Might as well turn it on now. She fingered the power button, wanting to push it but also wanting to keep whatever was in store for her a secret.

Shelby solved the problem for her.

"Laura!" Shelby burst through the adjoining door. "We're going to open our folders now!" She squealed.

Laura looked up at her. "Ok." She slipped the device back into her pocket, grabbed the folders from her desk and joined Shelby in her room, where she found Otto was sitting on the desk and Wing perched on the edge of the bed, already waiting.

"Ready?! One… two… three!"

_Shelby really was acting like it was Christmas morning,_ Laura thought as she opened her folders.

There were a few moments of silence as the four Alphas studied the papers inside. Shelby was the first to break the silence. "…Well… guess what my prize is?!"

"Grappling hook?" (Laura)

"Certificate of Vain-ness?" (Otto)

"A gym?" (Wing)

"The Netorine Lock-Picking Kit! It's the best one in the world!" Shelby squealed excitedly again.

"But wait a second. That's an object… right? So where would you get it? It's definitely not in the folder, because mine says it's a kind of game decoding and coding thing on a laptop-ish kind of device… and it's not in my folder." Laura shook her prize folder as extra emphasis.

"Mine says a… volume of books about different languages…" Otto offered up. He had a certain idea about where the prizes would come from, seeing as- uh… anyway, he elected to keep quiet about his idea until he was more sure.

"Swords like Raven's," Wing announced with a slightly pleased smile.

"Where are we going to get our prezzies from?!" Shelby cried out, throwing her folder into the air and rolling her head onto Wing's lap. He stroked her long blonde ponytail. A lengthy pause followed.

"I apparently graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology…"Laura said eventually, glancing at her papers. The other three immediately jumped onto the topic of which college they had graduated from.

"Same." Otto and Laura high-fived each other.

"University of California, Los Angeles…" Shelby said wonderingly, looking at her folder again.

"The University of Tokyo. I have heard of that one. But it's pretty high up in the rankings in Japan…"

Otto _almost_ giggled, which would be a very un-manly thing to do. "According to the latest rankings, me and Laura are the highest, followed by Wing. Shelby is the lowest here."

"Hey!" The American exclaimed sitting up.

"Did you guys also find a driver's license and an ID card in your folders?" Laura asked, holding up said cards.

"Yeah," the rest agreed, looking at their own and wondering silently where the pictures had come from.

Slowly, the topic went back to the location of their 'prezzies'.

"Maybe we have to do something more to earn it?" Wing asked.

"Or maybe it's hidden somewhere." Otto suggested.

"Or it's just a prank…!" Shelby moaned.

**A/N: Erm, sorry if you found the description of their rooms a little confusing…**

**Also, yes, they have 'gone' to college already, though they actually **_**should**_** go there after HIVE. But to make things less complicated, they aren't. And they've already graduated. Makes people think that they're extra smart. (;**

**AND! And, to my stalker friend in rl, if you're gonna continue stalking me, welp. Don't you DARE say a word about all the fluffy lovey dovey-ness that MAY to come up. Because SOMEHOW, when I was writing this story, it managed to twist itself to become a love story... -_-**

**On another note! Thanks again to my reviewers, NIghtRunner144, mosgem, stardust light, PatnissEverlark123 and Chameleons!**

**And a PS to mosgem: Don't you worry – there should be a plentiful supply of Ottra in the next chappy!**


	5. Them Mysterious Prezzies Indeed

Laura stood up from her spot on the rug. She couldn't wait anymore – her curiosity had gotten to her. She _had_ to see what was on the device. "Well, um. You guys keep thinking, I have to uh… do something…see you!" She walked out of the adjoining door and closed it.

Safe inside her room, Laura settled down on her bed and retrieved the device once again from her pocket. Before she chickened out again, she took a deep breath and pressed the power button. The screen lit in white for a second before streams of code appeared.

A few words at a time flashed on the screen long enough for her to read.

_Hello Laura_

_Umm…_

_I guess this is yours?_

_I dunno._

_Prof Pike never really mentioned the details_

_So I just winged it._

_Kinda._

_So…_

_Have fun! _

_There are about 100 000 codes here for you to solve… _

Then the words disappeared, the lines of code came back and a small keyboard slid out of side of the tablet-like device. Now it really looked like a mini laptop. Laura grinned. This was cool. HIVE had gotten the students to get or make the prizes for each other.

But after a short while, she had a little change of thoughts. It kind of seemed like HIVE was just letting the students get or construct the presents for one another so they would have less work for themselves. Oh well. It wasn't like it did the students any harm. Plus, HIVE had probably been busy, what with the graduation things and all that.

Though now there was something nagging at the back of her mind. If Otto had known to make her prize while he was still at HIVE, then how come _she_ hadn't been told before-hand about someone else's prize?

Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on the main door, and then it opened, revealing Ms Whitbeck. Without a single word, she stepped in and dropped a single sheet of paper into Laura's lap, then strode right back out of the room swiftly.

Inquisitively, Laura picked up the paper and scanned it over.

_Wing_, it read across the top.

And below that: _Natalya's swords_

Below those words were some sort of vague diagrams. Laura squinted and after a moment, noticed some familiar parts here and there. Then she shook her head slowly in wonderment. Some of these were going to be hard to get. Of course, she could ask Shelby, right? It wasn't like they'd said anything about asking anyone else for help.

With a smile, Laura stashed the paper into a drawer of the desk and left the coding device on top of the table. She walked back to the adjoining door and opened it.

The three Alphas, who were currently still chatting away, didn't see the red-head come in.

Laura took over her spot on the floor again and Shelby finally noticed her. "Oh hey again. So what did you do?"

"Hmm? Oh, I fought an evil space squid that attempted to take over the world and then went to have some ice-cream with a giant space robot to celebrate." Laura decided that she probably shouldn't tell Shelby and Wing that her present was from another student. It might get them excited. Well – Shelby, excited.

Shelby gave Laura a '-_- no really?' look. "Fine. Don't tell me…"

Her attempted reverse psychology didn't work. Laura shrugged and kept mum.

Otto glanced at his girlfriend. He was pretty sure he knew what Laura had done in her room and wondered why she didn't just tell the rest. With a mental shrug, he chose to just keep quiet about the whole matter. (Smart choice, dude.)

A silence fell over the four. "Well, did you guys get any closer to thinking where our prizes are?" Laura asked after a while.

"Not really, no. We're all sticking to our own reasons." Otto said with a roll of his eyes.

"That's true." Wing confirmed with a smile.

Unexpectedly, surprising the Alphas inside the room, the main door of Shelby's room burst open. Franz's head popped around the door. "Will you guys be having your dinner now? I am being the hungry but do not want to eat on my own and Nigel is somewhere I do not know."

Shelby stood up. "I _am_ pretty hungry. Come on guys, let's go cook something."

"How did he even know which room we were in?" Laura whispered to Shelby as they trailed after Franz to the kitchen. The blonde shrugged.

* * *

After a satisfying dinner of something German that Franz had helped them cook, the four were on their way back to their rooms. Shelby and Wing went in, leaving Laura with Otto lingering outside.

Laura pulled the white-haired boy close. "Thanks for the present," she whispered to him.

Otto smiled and hugged her back. "Welcome. Though, was wondering – why didn't you just tell Wing and Shelby?"

"Oh," Laura said, releasing him. "That. Because now I know that the students are doing the prizes for each other, and well, I didn't want Shelby to start going around questioning each and every Alpha in our year…"

"That makes sense. Well, night Laura."

The two shared a kiss for a few long seconds, leaving both of them feeling just the little bit happier before heading into their separate rooms.

* * *

**A/N: …I officially suck at fluff. Or any other romance for that matter. :P **

**Sorry sorry sorry for not updating sooner! The laptop had problems and such. **

**I also just realised Ms Whitbeck's name sounds a lot like Annie Whitcomb, from pigeonattack's Once Upon a Pigeon's Prom. (Great story, you should DEFINITELY read it if you haven't yet...)**

**Thanks to Stardust Light, PatnissEverlark123, Chameleons, and Jocelyn44 for your reviews! **


	6. Ugh, shopping

"Good morning!"

Otto woke with a start to find Laura perched at the end of his bed.

"Laura!" He sat up and pulled the blanket around him. "I'm barely even dressed," he grumbled. A scary thought occurred to him. "Is Shelby in here?"

"Nah, she's gone to wake Wing. You two can sleep for so long if nobody wakes you. I mean, it's almost ten!" Laura said.

"Oh. How'd you even get in?" Otto questioned her.

Laura smiled. "Shelby. Anyway," she pulled the blanket off Otto and he suddenly wondered why he hadn't worn anything else but his boxer shorts and white undershirt to bed. Laura seemed oblivious to his discomfort. "Get dressed and eat some breakfast. We're going shopping today!"

"Shopping…ugh." Otto dragged himself out of his comfy bed and staggered into the bathroom. Laura watched him go then stood up and opened the adjoining door to Wing's room, where she found that Wing had already gone and Shelby was sitting on the bed, smiling about who-knows-what. She started talking a mile a minute the second Laura entered and sat down on Wing's bed next to her.

"So I was thinking we could hit the mall. I know the all the good places to shop in US like the back of my hand, and there happen to be some very good malls around here. Ok. We'll get us and the boys some good clothes, or they can get clothes themselves - whatever works. Otto and Wing will go get some gadgets, cell-phones, PCs and all that. Best-technology, of course. After that, we'll go for lunch at some food court, after changing into the new clothes. We don't want to look like freaks. First impressions count." Shelby finished her long speech.

"Um, Shelby? What about the money? We'll obviously need money to pay for all that. We're not going to just nick everything, will we?"

The look on Shelby's face told her that she hadn't thought that through. "We _could _steal them…" she said thoughtfully.

Laura hit Shelby with Wing's pillow. "You can't mean that!" she exclaimed.

A mischievous look had crept into Shelby's eyes. "Are you sure? Fine. We'll just get Otto to get some money from those ATM machines then."

Laura huffed. "That's almost as bad."

"And it's only _almost_ because it'll be _Otto_ doing the stealing, right?" Shelby said with a grin.

Laura flushed. "No! It's because at least we'll be paying the people even though we're stealing from the bank. Whereas when we steal from them directly, they get nothing!"

"You're too good. How did you even graduate from a school that trains villains, hmm?"

"According to my papers, I graduated from MIT, so you better hush up about the villain thing."

The conversation was abruptly ended when Wing walked in. Otto came in seconds later, already complaining.

"Do _I _have to go shopping too? It's so…eugh."

"You and Wing will be shopping for gadgets. Do you want us to get your clothes or will you do those yourselves?" Shelby immediately questioned him.

"I'll do my own," Otto said hurriedly, his mind already running through the kinds of clothes Shelby just might get him as a prank.

"Well, come on, let's get some breakfast. We're going out at ten thirty." Laura linked arms with Otto and pulled him out of Wing's room.

* * *

After Otto persuaded the ATM machine to hand over, oh… some eight thousand dollars, Shelby split the money, giving more to the boys, because they were going to buy the gadgets. She did this in an alleyway, after making sure no one was looking.

"Okay, $2400 for each of the boys," Shelby said handing the wads of dollars of five, ten, twenty, fifty and one hundreds to Wing and Otto. "Buy phones and whatever and clothes for yourselves.

"$1600 for each of us, Laura, for clothes and the necessities for the four of us. Remember to have money left over for lunch."

Laura stuffed the money into the makeshift envelope she and Shelby had constructed for each of them while the boys were having breakfast. She felt a little apprehensive holding the money. "Won't people find it strange that we have so much money?"

Shelby led them out of the alley and onto the busy street. "Not really. We're old-enough to work now, and if they do ask, show them your driver's license and those college forms I made you bring. Okay, since we already took the Path train, we're pretty close to New Jersey. There're some good malls there, sometimes better than in NYC."

The American shut up for a while and strode happily in front of the three others, obviously feeling good to be back in her element. USA, shopping…

* * *

Otto trudged after Laura, Shelby and Wing. Ugh, shopping. He hated every single part of it, which was why he'd gotten Tom and Penny to get the things he needed last time in the orphanage.

Finally the four entered the cool air-conditioned air of the mall. Their black jumpsuits made them look like they had escaped from... somewhere and attracted some curious looks, but nothing more. Shelby took charge yet again.

"Ok. The electronics you can find at the top levels, and for clothes, you can just work your way down." Shelby pushed the boys gently towards the escalators. "Go." Then she linked arms with Laura.

"_We'll_ work our way up from the bottom. Let's go."

* * *

An hour and a half later, the four met up at the food court, where Otto and Wing had already finished their shopping and were seated across from each other at a table for four. Otto was drinking coke and Wing was drinking green tea.

Instantly, Shelby checked the boys' carrier shopping bags. "A grey shirt, white shirt, blue hoodie, grey hoodie, jeans, shorts…Your clothes are so boring, Otto. I knew I should have bought your clothes myself." She checked Wing's. "Why do boys just love to get plain clothes? I mean, lookit us!" Shelby gestured at her and Laura.

Laura was dressed in a grey sweater-dress with sleeves that reached to her elbows and dark blue skinny jeans with red ballet flats. Shelby was dressed fashionably with dangly sparkly earrings and a tight pink shirt and white shorts that showed off her tanned legs, though how exaclty she had gotten them that way since they had been living in a volcano for the past six years none of them knew.

In comparison, Wing was in loose jeans and a black shirt and Otto was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black jeans.

Shelby sighed. "Oh well. Can I try your tea?" Wing dutifully passed her his bottle of green tea. She sipped it. "Pretty good." Then she left and came back with two bottles of ice lemon tea for herself and Laura. "Try." She shoved one bottle at Laura, who had sat down next to Otto.

Laura tried opening the bottle. She pushed it towards Otto, who, failing to open it, passed it to Wing, who opened it with absolutely no difficulty. "Thanks," Laura said, taking a sip of the tea. She fell in love. "So wonderful," she breathed to Shelby.

The blonde grinned smugly. "I knew you'd like it."

* * *

Laura wandered out of her room, popping a mint into her mouth. Yum. She smiled, remembering hers and Shelby's little argument over them at the mall.

* * *

_"Ooh!" Laura hurried over to the candy section, where she had spotted tins of mint. She studied each one so agonizingly until Shelby got impatient and came over._

_"Mints? Really, Brand?"_

_"Aye!" Laura picked one tin up and stroked its metal exterior. "I used to collect mint tins before I went to HIVE," she said dreamily._

_Shelby gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Just hurry up and choose one, will 'ya?"_

* * *

Laura ended up getting four.

Arriving in the den, she spotted Wing at one of the laptops. She went closer. "Hey, what're you doing?" Laura asked the tall Asian.

Wing turned away from the computer to look at Laura. "Just some researching."

Laura climbed onto the stool next to him and turned on the laptop there. "About what?"

"Houses." Wing went back to his computer screen.

"That makes sense," Laura told him. "After all, we need somewhere to go after this place. I always wanted a house in the mountains… with a nice little garden… of course; the penthouse of an apartment building would be nice too.

Wing nodded in acknowledgement.

0 0 0

The four Alphas sat down at one of the study tables, setting their plates of mac and cheese down. It wasn't far into the meal when a conversation was struck up.

"What…would be your dream house?" Laura asked the rest, thinking of hers and Wing's earlier conversation. Each had differing answers, probably related to their old lives.

"An average house, preferably with a large exercise gym that you can use grapplers and other similar objects," Wing offered.

"Big two-storey penthouse." Otto said simply, stuffing another mouthful of mac and cheese into his mouth.

"A huge terrace house in a fancy schmancy neighbourhood and an awesome pool and a gym like Wing said," Shelby announced dreamily, looking into the distance at her imaginary home.

"Well…I'd like a house in the mountains that has a nice little garden and a fantastic tech room," Laura told them.

"Didn't know you were a gardening type," Otto commented, stabbing a macaroni.

"I'm not."

"Then?" Shelby prompted.

"Well garden's are pretty. Still, maybe an old-fashioned cozy library would be better…"

"For _you_ maybe."

"Shut up and eat Shel. We'll give the garden to Nigel, happy?"

"Very."

* * *

**A/N: Honestly I find this chapter kinda boring. :P Oh well. Things will speed up a bit later on, hopefully. (Who likes ice lemon tea here? Yum.)**

**Thanks to Guest (ok - K, you reeeaally should use a different name. I might get confused. :P), PatnissEverlark, Stardust Light, Katherine Albatross, and Anoymous Person (oh gee. Everyone deserves to be credited. ;D)**

**Especially thanks to K.A. and Guest for (sometimes indirectly) reminding me to post this update! **


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